Wed, Mar 26th 2008, 16:22
It's late and I can't sleep. I've got visions of blogs dancing through my head. Are they too boring? Are they too stupid? Do I need a title? Will anyone even care? I promise the next time anything interesting happens to me, you will be updated.
The Advertising Slogan Generator
Good to the Last Mike
Moms Like You Choose Mike
Nobody Does it Like Mike
When You've Got Mike, Flaunt It
But I'd Rather Have a Bowl of Mike
Mike is Good For You
Come to See the Softer Side of Mike
Wouldn't You Rather Be Mike?
Probably the Best Mike in the World
Mike Just Feels Right
Half the Mike, All the Taste
Are you as easily amused as I am? Try it out with your name, or any other word, and prepare to be easily amused for about 3 minutes.
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Wed, Mar 26th 2008, 01:37
Knut is not doing so well...
Knut isn't a little cub anymore, and he is so used to human contact that he is finding it hard to cope since his keepers have been forbidden to play with him.
Knut has become so used to attention that "he cries when no one is standing in front of his enclosure watching him" (Der Spiegel Article).
For those of you who haven't heard of Knut, he is a polar bear who was born in captivity at a zoo in Berlin, Germany. He was rejected by his mother at birth, and then raised by zookeepers. He has been the subject of international controversy and also a huge tourist attraction and commercial success.
"Knutmania" hit Germany in 2007 when Knut was presented to the public for the first time. Knut was registered as a trademark in 2007, and there have been Knut toys, songs, and DVDs.
The controversy was concerning whether it was right to raise a wild animal as a "domestic pet".
When Knut was cute, he used to draw crowds of people to the Berlin Zoo and get fan mail, but now, just a year later, he is less cute, and gets fewer, and fewer visitors. Poor Knut misses his human trainers, and does not know how to interact with other bears. There are plans to move Knut to to another location so he can get used to being away from his human caregivers. But I am not so sure how he will like that. I feel sorry for the bear, and he reminds me of child stars who find it hard to cope after their fame ends. I also wonder, why the zookeepers are no longer allowed to play with him? They do, after all work with killer whales at Sea World and other wild animals.
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Tue, Mar 25th 2008, 09:31
Today was a good day because I opened my mail box and had three post cards inside! How exciting.
Essen, Germany
The first postcard is from a city in West Germany. The first thing I was curious about, was the city's name. In German, essen is the verb to eat. Oddly enough, the city's name has nothing to do with eating. Supposedly its name has changed several times, and its origins are disputed. It could be from the Old High German word for fireplace, Esse, because of the city's industrial history.
Berlin, Germany
I'm pretty sure that everyone has heard of Berlin. It is the capital and largest city in Germany, and only a couple of hours north of Dresden. Most of us Americans have probably heard of Berlin because of the Berlin Wall, which separated the west side of the city from the east. After WWII, Germany was split apart by the allies, and the east fell under the control of the Soviet Union. East Germans were not allowed to enter West Germany until 1989 when the wall fell.
San Mauro Torinese, Italy
San Mauro is a region in the Province of Turin in Northwestern Italy. San Mauro means beautiful beach in Latin. Unfortunately, that is all of the information I could find on it.
Today it is snowing in Dresden, and it hasn't snowed all winter. It reminds me of Flagstaff, where it seemed to always snow at Easter.
April, April. Der macht was er will.
April, April. It does what it wants.
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Mon, Mar 24th 2008, 08:34
Postkarten aus aller Welt:
Post cards from all over the world
This is a new series where I will show a postcard I've gotten and then use the opportunity to learn a little about the place it came from.
Mpumalanga Province, South Africa
This is the first postcard I have received through Post Crossing. It is actually from a woman in Germany, not from South Africa.
Mpumalanga means "the place where the sun rises" in Swazi.
Some of the oldest rocks on the planet are exposed in the mountains of Mpumalanga (3.5 billion years). Extensive mining is done in the province, including gold and platinum.
It is also a popular tourist destination. People come to see Kruger National Park, which is the largest game reserve in South Africa, and also the Sudwala Caves, which are the oldest known caves in the world (240 million years).
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Sun, Mar 23rd 2008, 04:04
Going to the movies.
Back home, going to the movies was one of my favorite things to do. When I was little my mother used to sign us up for the Summer movie specials where they would play a children's movie every week. We would always have popcorn and a soda. My mother still takes us to the movies very often, so it is not hard to understand why it has become one of my favorite things to do.
When I moved to Dresden, I was worried that I would not be able to go to the movies anymore, because Germany dubs all of the films from the U.S. (which also causes their release to be delayed here).
Luckily, Mike and I discovered that the local movie theater, UFA Kristallpalast Dresden has an English movie special.
Every Sunday and Wednesday night at 8pm they play an English film in its original version, and the tickets are only 4 Euros each. Of course, these movies have usually been out in the U.S. and in Germany for a while before they play them in English. But I have still been glad to be able to go occasionally.
At first when we started going to see movies like Rush Hour 3 and Because I Said So (I strongly recommend that you do not see either of these films), we were practically alone in the theater, except for a few people. But the last two times we went to see the Atonement and Elizabeth: The Golden Age, the theaters were packed with German teenagers, who must have realized that the tickets for English films were cheaper than the normal ones. (Atonement was great, Elizabeth was a bit boring).
In the movie theaters here they give you seating assignments, which I really hate. Even when the theater is only half full, you are forced to sit right next to everyone. If you sit in the wrong seat, it is almost guaranteed that someone will show up telling you it is theirs.
Also different, are the concession stands, where they sell alcoholic beverages, sweet or plain popcorn, and chips & salsa which they call "takitos". Most Germans I've met think that the idea of popcorn with butter is disgusting. But I definitely miss it (see my previous post Heimweh).
The next few weeks they are playing movies I am not very interested in seeing (Hitman, Alien vs. Predator). That's the only problem, that there are not any options. The next movie we plan on seeing is Sweeney Todd on April 27th or 30th. I only hope that I am well enough to go, since that is very soon after I get my wisdom teeth pulled.
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